Garment hanger and support therefor



NOV. 21, 1939. s MEYER 2,180,489

GARMENT HANGER AND SUPPORT THEREFOR Filed May 4, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sdcgfn'ccl NE YER.

lnventon- Nov. 21, 1939. 5 MEYER 2.180,!89

GARMENT HANGER AND SUPPORT THEREFOR Filed May 4, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 win Patented Nov. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Siegfried Meyer, Berlin, Germany Application May 4, 1938, Serial No. 205,962 In Germany October 12, 1937 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a hanger structure, particularly for receptacles in which coats, suits, dresses or other garments are to be placed.

In hitherto known receptacles or wardrobe 5 trunks for suits, costumes and the like, the

garments are either suspended from clotheshangers, or are folded'according to particular instructions on special hangers. In the former case the wardrobe trunk must be large, owing to the length of the articles of clothing. Due to the great height of such wardrobe trunks the carrying handles are attached to the longitudinal sides, so that the articles of clothing are then carried transversely of their direction of suspension. In

general, the width of such trunks is not sumcient to accommodate men's suits without crushing them. Where special hangers are used it is a tedious task to pack or unpack the trunk and it is furthermore necessary to remove suits from the wardrobe clothes-hangers prior to packing them.

One object of my invention is to provide a hanger structure, which permits the packing of suits, dresses or other garments in a very convenient manner, whereby any unduly crushing or crumpling of the garments or the like is avoided.

An essential feature of my hanger structure consists therein, that two parallel carrier rails or the like for removably carrying the hanger arranged on a wall of the trunk, which is designated for the suspension of the garments, and these carrier rails are situated close to the celling of said trunk in a manner adapted to be uti- 3 lized throughout the entire depth of said trunk,

and that preferably said hanger structure is provided with inwardly bent ends and is of such a shape, that it extends almost the'full width of the space between the side walls of the trunk, so that the garments may be conveniently placed on 40 the transversely directed hanger while the latter is supported by said carrier rails.

According to my invention, the carrier rails may be arranged in the upper part of the particular member of a wardrobe trunk which is in a vertical position, if the same is open. Preferably, the carrier rails adapted to carry the hangers are secured to the particular wall of said member which forms the upper cover or wall of said member, if the trunk is opened.

The packing of articles of clothing in a receptacle in accordance with the invention, is effected in such manner that, for'example, the jacket of a suit is folded in the middle transversely oi its length over a hanger made according to this invention which is then placed upon the supporting carrier rails, the normal wardrobe clotheshanger being left in the suit if it is desired. Where the clothes-hanger is so left, the clothes can, upon being unpacked, be put straight back into a wardrobe utilising such clothes-hanger. Owing to the central folding and central support on the hanger rail the compartment oi! the portmanteau for the reception oi. the clothes need only be half as long as the article of clothing. 10 Consequently only a relatively small receptacle is required on which the carrying handle can be placed on the side on which the hangers are carried, so as to leave the contained articles of clothing always in their correct suspended 15 position.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates an opened wardrobe trunk 2 having articles of clothing suspended therein, one corner of the trunk being cut away.

Figs. 2 to 7 are sectional views through the upper portion of the wardrobe trunk shown in Fig. 1, having difierently designed and/or ar- 25 ranged carrier rails for supporting the hangers,

Fig. 8 shows one form of a hanger embodying the invention,

Fig. 8a shows another form of a hanger embodying the invention, 30

Fig. 9 illustrates the method of inserting a hanger made in accordance with the invention under a suit of clothing when packing,

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the trunk, the removable tray there- 35 of being removed,

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a tray forming a part of the trunk illustrated in Fig. 10, and

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a tray during the packing or unpacking operations. 40

The trunk shown by way of example in Fig. 1 consists of a lower portion or compartment I for accommodating linen, shoes and the like, and of an upper portion or compartment 2 which serves as a wardrobe, or container. for suspended articles of clothing and, at the same time, acts as the lid of the trunk or portmanteau. 0n the inside of the top horizontal wall 3 which constitutes a support two carrier rails 4 are attached thereto inflxed relation for carrying a trans- 50 verse hanger 5. As may be seen from the illustration an article of clothing 6 such as a jacket, is suspended upon a hanger 5, in such manner as to require a space in the trunk corresponding 55 only to half of the length of the jacket. In the example shown the usual clothes-hanger 2| has been left in position in the jacket. The hanger 2| may possess in known manner a cross bar over which trousers may be suspended, the latter then being thus also supported by the hanger 5.

The carrier rails 4 can be variously designed. They are preferably of U-shape, so that one leg of the U constitutes the carrier rail proper and serves to receive the hangers such as shown in Figs. 8 and 8a whilst the other leg which may be shorter, serves for attachment of the rail to the wall of the portmanteau. Fig. 2 shows the simplest form of embodiment of such a carrier rail. The rail 1 in this case extends over the entire depth of the portmanteau portion 2, the front end of the carrier rail being slightly bent upward at the forward extremity to prevent the hangers from sliding 01f. The integral upper leg 8 is made shorter and attached to the wall 3 of the trunk. The hangers together with the articles of clothing which are suspended therefrom, can be easily placed upon and removed from the carrier rails through the gap 9 between the latter and the walls of the trunk.

Fig. 3 shows the same type of carrier rail, but in this instance the single carrier rail is replaced by two correspondingly shorter aligned carrier rails 4' having a gap 9' between them. This has the advantage that the hangers which have been placed on the rear carrier rails 4 can be removed without the necessity of removing the hangers placed in front thereof. In Fig. 3 as in the other Figs. 2, 4, 5 and 6, only one side of the portion 2 of the portmanteau can be seen and it is to be understood that to each carrier rail 4' there is a corresponding rail at the other side of the portion 2 since the carrier rails are in pairs and one from each pair is located at either side of the portion 2. The group of rails 4' at one side of the portion 2, apart from a space 9', extend the depth of the said portion.

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment in which the carrier rail is subdivided into two separate rails 10 and II, both parts have their rearward extremities jbining integrally with a securing leg I2, the forward extremities of the rails being bent up slightly. This embodiment of the carrier rail offers the same advantage as the arrangement of the aligned carrier rails as in Fig. 3, whereby the hangers which have been placed on the rear rail ll being removable through the gap l3 which is left between the rails l0 and H. Also'in this arrangement almost the entire depth of the trunk is utilized, and if desired the rails l0 and H may have depressions M for locating the hanger rails.

Fig. 5 shows a similar embodiment to that shown in Fig. 4 except that three carrier rails 15, I6 and I! are provided, the rails being separated from one another by gaps l3. All the rearward extremities of the said rails join with the common supporting leg l2, and the connection of the carrier rails with the securing leg can be efiected in any desired manner. The carrier rails and supporting leg may either be of unitary construction, for example a casting, or one or more of the rails may be screwed to remaining portion of the carrier rail, as a whole, (including its supporting leg), or riveted or attached thereto in some other convenient manner. In this embodiment also the entire depth of the portmanteau portion 2 is utilized.

Fig. 6 shows a horizontal section through the upper portion of the portmanteau when said portion is in its vertical position illustrated in Fig. 1. In this example, the carrier rail 4 instead of being attached to the top side 3, is attached to the side wall 3" of the portmanteau. In this arrangement the carrier rails may be used as hereinbefore described. The shape of these carrier rails may, of course, also be so chosen that the hangers 5 are carried in the same position as they would be if the carrier rails were attached to the horizontal top side 3 of the portmanteau portion 2.

Fig. '7 shows a vertical section through the portion 2. In this embodiment the carrier rail 4a is attached to the rear wall 3' of the trunk, the carrier rail being of the same shape as that shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 shows a preferred embodiment of one of the hangers 5, which is formed as a main portion and having a curved portion at each end thereof, the extremities or arms 20 of which are integrally formed with the said curved portions. The gap between the said extremities and the main portion is in this case sufficiently large to accommodate articles of clothing without appreciable crushing. The extremities 20 can bemade resilient in the manner of leaf springs so as to provide a certain amount of grip upon the article of clothing by means of light resilient pressure.

In Fig. 8a there is shown another embodiment of a hanger. In this instance the ends of the straight main portion of the hanger are bent slightly in a downward direction before forming the upwardly bent extremities or inwardly directed bent portions 20'. By this means suffi cient space is provided between the straight main portion and the bent portions 20 of the hanger to accommodate for example the sleeves of a jacket which is suspended upon the main portion of the hanger, thus preventing crushing of the article, although the extreme ends of the hanger rail may still grip it with a light resilient pressure. Fig. 8a furthermore shows that the final extremities 20a of the hanger rail which rest upon the article of clothing can be slightly bent upward in order to ensure that the article shall not become damaged.

Fig. 9 shows the method of placing a hanger 5 under a suit of clothing 5 when packing the portmanteau. The clothes-hanger 2| upon the cross bar 2| on which the trousers 6' are suspended, is left in the jacket without in any way interfering with the suspension of the latter on the hanger. As may be seen from the drawing the hanger is laid beneath the suit of clothing which has been placed fiat on the table, so that when the hanger 5 is lifted from the table the suit of clothing will hang down on both sides of the hanger main portion, whereupon the hanger is then associated with the carrier rails of the portmanteau in the manner described above.

In the center of the upper wall of portmanteau portion 2 a further rail, as, for example, illustrated in Fig. 12, may be provided upon which hangers of other kinds can be suspended in known manner. The portion 2 may be made adjustable in depth in order that it can be adapted to hold varying numbers of articles. preferable also to make the carrier rails adjustable longitudinally.

Figs. 10 to 12 illustrate another preferable embodiment of my invention, according to which my new device is arranged in a removable tray instead of in the upper portion of the portmanteau as shown in Fig. 1. According to Fig. 10 the portmanteau 22 is of substantially usual form In such case it is havinga comparatively narrow lid 23. A plurality of enclosed sections 24 or the like may be arranged in the lower member of the portmanteau for packing articles, the height of said enclosed sections, however, being less than the depth of the lower member of the portmanteau, so that there is suflicient space for the insertion of the tray 25 shown in Fig. 11, which is designated for packing garments.

The carrier rails 2'! 'are attached to the side wall 26 of the tray 25 and are located substantially along the entire width of said wall. Furthermore, an additional central carrier rail 28 adapted for the suspension of garment hangers may be attached to the same side wall 26. An eye 29 is secured to the outside of the tray and may be used for the suspension of the tray from a hook 30 during the packing and unpacking operations, as shown in Fig. 12. The tray 25 may be equipped with hangers 3|, 32 made in accordance with the invention.

Garments of comparatively short length, such as men's suits or costume jackets, may be inserted into the tray in the same manner as illustrated by Fig. 9, i. e., the garment is folded once upon the hanger 3|, whereupon the latter is engaged with the carrier rails 21 of the tray 25 which is suspended from a hook 30. If, however, garments of greater length, such as dressinggowns, overcoats or the like, are to be packed, the hanger 32 is preferably used, which is attached to the tray 25 by means of a cord 33 or the like. At the beginning of the packing operation the hanger 32 freely hangs at a place below the lower wall of the tray 25, and the garments, which may hang on a usual wardrobe garment hanger, may be placed in the tray in front of said hanger 32, if the wardrobe garment hanger is engaged with the central carrier rail 23. Then, the hanger 32 is engaged with the lower part of the garments projecting from the tray and is moved in a forward and upward direction, whereby the garments are folded in three layers. If the hanger 32 is inserted into the carrier rails 21, the garment hangs in three layers .in the tray without being crushed or wrinkled. In order to unpack a garment of greater length from the tray, the above described steps are carried out in reverse sequence. If all garments are suspended from the carrier rail or rails of the tray, the tray is removed from the hook 30 and inserted into the portmanteau 22 in such a manner, that the particular wall of the tray provided with the carrier rails faces the particular wall of the portmanteau carrying the handle 34. Thus, this embodiment of the portmanteau also permits a free hanging of the garments during transportation of the wardrobe trunk.

I have described preferred embodiments of my invention, but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

In combination, a support, two parallel rails fixed thereto, and a hanger structure removably mounted on said rails and comprising a straight main portion adapted to receive a garment thereover in folded condition, and an inwardly directed bent portion extending from each end of said main portion, said bent portions terminating in free opposite spaced apart ends and being spaced from said main portion, said free ends of said bent portions being directed toward said main portion and approaching each other to such extent as to provide a space therebetween to freely render accessible the major part of said main portion for unobstructed reception of said garment on said major part, said ends of said inwardly directed bent portions coacting with said main portion to grip the garment therebetween.

SIEGFRIED MEYER. 

